8 Ways To Evaluate Failed Content

So you've done your research and put together what you feel is a quality piece of content, you've pushed it out on social, you've included it in your direct emails and had initial interest but the content has simply fallen flat since then. No one is visiting your content organically and no one is sharing it or linking back to it.

Clearly, you've done something wrong, don't blame the system it's all your fault, now get over it and let's get to work. Thankfully content marketing and organic search aren't static mediums and you're not confined to page 2 of Google search forever. There are tactics that you can employ to rescue that content and give it the ranking and attention it so richly deserves.

So how do you turn a content fail into a content win? Use our content failure analysis guide below

1. Review your rankings

Probably the most simple tip on the list and really should be your go-to as your benchmark. Do a simple google search with a keyword that you feel your content would service. Take every single link that sits above your content in the rankings and put them into a spreadsheet and begin reviewing them one by one. This exercise should sober you up and give you an idea of what superior content is. Now that you know where the bar is you have a choice, you can either decide it's not worth the effort and give up right now or raise the bar and pursue that number one spot.

2. Review the content Length

Content comes in all shapes and sizes and can be successful even in short form but this is the exception, not the rule.The general rule is long-form works best and don't let people tell you any different size does matter. Review your competition and see how long and in-depth their competiting content is and then simply make yours longer.

This doesn't mean stuffing it with repeated paragraphs and padding the point you're trying to make, that will just put readers off. What I mean by length is using additional sources, add more quotes, give your personal opinion on a topic, get industry insight and personalise your content by offering something your competitor does not have that user will find useful.

3. Review your social influence

Similar to what I mentioned in tip 1 regarding rankings, use that same excel sheet you put together and compare your social engagement with that of your competitors. How many Facebook, google+, Twitter, Linkedin andamp; Pinterest interactions does each post have? Once you have that data you know how many social interactions you will require to outperform your competitors if you have superior content.

4. Review what your audience likes

The majority of your traffic will come from your existing audience and their network. They are the ones willing to engage with your content and distribute it among their interest groups. For example, This is a digital marketing andamp; tech blog and we teach users how to market themselves online. That's what people expect when they visit our website. I can guarantee that if I wrote a post about pomeranian dog breeding I wouldn't do very well because of my audience. I know it's an extreme example but you get my drift, try to stick to your core speciality for now and make sure you're an authority in one field before you begin expanding your content efforts.

5. Review your media

Content doesn't always have to be like the post I'm doing now, boring old words on a page, especially if you have heated competition in your area of search. Dress up your content by using images, video, audio, infographics, downloadable MP3's or PDFs, test samples or templates users can interact with. Create alternative versions of the same content, for example, a podcast, a tutorial video or a how-to manual a user can save on their devices. Offering alternative ways to interact with your content will go a long way with users in making you their prefered source of information.

6. Review your keywords

Maybe you did your keyword research maybe you didn't, it doesn't really matter at this point, your content sucks and Google analytics backs that claim. Search trends change all the time to make sure the top keywords users would likely use are present and marked up within your content. Keyword research and placement is 50% graft and 50% art form if you slack on either its simply not going to work as well as it should.

7. Review your targeting

When you put together the original piece did you ever think about who your audience is? Is it for people with a deep interest in your topic, undecided about your topic, or want a brief introduction to the topic? Once you decide who you want to target it will make reformatting your post a lot easier. In many cases, you can split the original article into a series targetting different segments and get even more reach and legs out fo the same topic.

If you found this tip helpful then I highly recommend you check out our post - What Is Mid Funnel Content Marketing? Update or beef up your content at regular intervals

8. Review your link building efforts

How many links have you built to this content both internally and externally? If the answer is none then what are you standing around for,? Start promoting your content by finding relevant pages on your site that you can add a link to your failed content piece and direct some traffic its way as well as leverage some like equity. Next up, source some external links. Build up a contact list of relevant sites who would be interested in your content and start knocking on doors. DM bloggers on Instagram, approach publications on Linkedin it doesn't matter, get your foot in the door and get a link from their site.

If you found this tip helpful, then I highly recommend you check out our post - How To Combine PR, Content Marketing & SEO

Content marketing winners

Content marketing doesn't have to just be the daily grind of pushing out content on time it can be turned into a sweet and rewarding practice that requires finesse, charm and a little bit fo consumer behaviour science. So take the tips form this post to heart and use it as a guide for turning a content campaign upside down, inside out, giving it a makeover and showing off that new revenge body copy to the world. If you enjoyed this post then you might also like:

• How To Create A Company Culture of Content Marketing
• How to craft the perfect blog post

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Tags: Content Marketing, Data Analysis, google analytics, SEO